Breakaway
by WickedForRENT247
Summary: AU: Eight friends who are in their first and second years at a performing arts school seek comfort in each other when they are enrolled in the same classes. But when one of them gets involved in drugs, what is the group to do? Set to the songs on the B
1. Prologue

Disclaimer - I own nothing of RENT or the songs sung by Kelly Clarkson. Both of these belong to their respected owners (Jonathon Larson & Kelly Clarkson). 'Nuff said. I can say, however, that I own the plot and my original characters - that's it, though.

**_Italics_** are song lyrics, thoughts and flashbacks

A/N: As I was on the plane coming home from a visit in New York, I was listening to the album Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson and I thought that it would make an interesting story. In this story, Angel is a girl.

Summary: AU: Eight friends who are in their first and second years at a performing arts school seek comfort in each other when they are enrolled in the same classes. But when one of them gets involved in drugs, what is the group to do? Set to the songs on the Breakaway album by Kelly Clarkson.

Genre: Drama/None

Rating: T

**Breakaway  
**By WickedforRENT247

CHAPTER ONE  
(chapter title - Prologue)

_Saturday, August 9th, 2008_

_Mimi Davis sighed and shut the lid of the trunk she was looking in - she didn't want to look through more pictures of her one true love - drugs had taken over his life when he was a senior at the performing arts school where he and Mimi had met. They broke up for a while, but got back together when he told Mimi that he had given up on drugs and wanted her back in his life._

_"Meems? Is everything okay?" Maureen Cohen - one of Mimi's best friends - called up the stairs. Mimi picked up a scrapbook nearby and carefully looked through it._

_"I'm fine. Just looking at old photos." Mimi called down the stairs._

_"Get your butt down here - Grady and Ellen are awake and Mark's not due home for another hour." Maureen called back up. Mimi sighed and got up from her place on the floor, nearly tripping over her feet - both of them had fallen asleep. Shaking them awake, she exited the attic and walked down the stairs. Upon entering the kitchen, Mimi put the stairs to the attic back up and walked to the nursery._

_"Finally - how long have you been up in that filthy attic?" Maureen half-teased when Mimi entered the nursery._

_"I've only been up there a couple hours, just looking through some things." Mimi told her, her voice soft._

_"Things?" Maureen raised an eyebrow as she changed Grady. Ellen was hugging her teddy bear and watching her mother change her brother._

_"Yearbooks, scrapbooks, old photographs - things like that." Mimi answered, waving to Ellen. Ellen and Grady were Maureen and Mark's eleven-month-old twins. Ellen looked like Mark - light red hair and blue eyes while Grady looked like Maureen - black curly hair and hazel eyes._

_"Honey, I know you miss them, and so do I, but it's time to move on." Maureen told her, putting Grady in the playpen in the living room before going to get Ellen. _

_"How can you move on? It's been three years! I haven't moved on!" Mimi exclaimed, tears in her eyes. Maureen put Ellen in the playpen and guided Mimi over to the couch, hugging her and stroking her hair._

_"Meems, I know you're upset, but Mark and I don't know what to do with you. Ever since you moved in with us two months ago, you've been up in the attic for hours at a time and frankly, I'm worried about you." Maureen said, going to make some honeysuckle tea for the two of them._

_"Why are you worried about me? I'm thirty-two, not twelve." Mimi informed her. Maureen rolled her eyes and handed Mimi her cup of tea. Mimi took a small sip and made herself comfortable in the chair next to the couch. She felt two pairs of eyes watching her as she and Maureen talked._

_"Meems, ever since Mark and I started taking care of you, I've noticed that you've stopped taking your AZT and it's starting to worry Mark and me. Are you okay? You're not pregnant are you? If you are, congrats! If not, I'm sorry. If you are - you have to let me help you with a __baby shower…" Maureen continued rambling on and on and on, showing no signs of stopping._

_"Maureen….Maureen…MAUREEN!" Mimi finally shouted, making Grady and Ellen cry. Mimi put down her teacup and went to the playpen. She picked up Grady - the lighter of the two - and held him close, letting him know that everything was all right. Maureen picked up Ellen and sung quietly to her as she gently bounced the little girl on her hip._

_An hour later, Mark came home while Mimi and Maureen were making dinner. Mark kissed Maureen on the lips before kissing Mimi on the cheek. As he told the girls about his day, Mimi saw some dirt on his knees - she knew he had been at the cemetery, visiting the graves of Angel, Benny, Collins (his real name was Thomas Bartholomew Collins, but he preferred to be called by his surname only), Joanne and of course, Roger - Mimi's devoted husband._

_As they ate the spaghetti and meatballs the girls made, Mark turned on the baby monitor so that he could hear the babies, just in case they started crying or woke up._

_"I'm gonna go pump since I didn't do it at all today." Maureen announced, getting up from the couch. Mark and Mimi laughed as they cleared the table and put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and put the food away._

_"Meems, may I ask you something and I want you to swear that you won't get mad and hurt me." Mark began, guiding Mimi to the couch._

_"What's up?" Mimi inquired, sitting Indian-style on the couch in front of Mark._

_"Why did you stop taking your AZT?" Mark asked._

_"Mark, I have a confession to make - I'm pregnant." _

_"Since when?"_

_"Since two weeks ago - I've missed my period for two months and every morning, I get sick." _

_"That doesn't give you a reason to stop taking your AZT - it's keeping you - and your baby - alive."_

_"Mark, I don't want a baby - I have HIV and I might - scratch that - will die if I bring a baby into the world."_

_"Let's wait until you're further along to be making decisions like that."_

_"Fine."_

_"Changing subjects - I was thinking about the first time that all eight of us met."_

_"I was just thinking about that the other day - actually this morning."_

_"Really?"_

_"Yeah - I realized how lucky I am to have friends like you and Maureen in my life."_

_"The twins, too?"_

_"Si, Mark - even the twins."_

_"I'm glad that you moved in with us."_

_"I am, too."_

_After their conversation on the couch, Mimi went to her room towards the back of the house while Mark went to his and Maureen's room. The twins were down for the night, so all was peaceful. Mimi said a prayer for the ones who were no longer with her on Earth, knowing that she would be with them someday._


	2. Breakaway

CHAPTER TWO  
(chapter two - Breakaway)

Monday, March 10th, 1980 - 1:13 PM

Mimi Marquez sighed as she entered the dorm where she was going to be living over the next three years at Green Tree Performing Arts Academy - the performing arts school where she had worked her ass off to pay for her tuition there. She was enrolled in the Dance Program, but she didn't know if she would like it or not.

"Hi. You must be Mimi. I'm Maureen and that's Joanne." A voice pierced through the silence. Mimi turned around and saw two girls - a light-skinned one and an African-American one - putting up a huge poster of ballet slippers on the far wall. Mimi rushed over to help them, being careful not to trip over anything in the room.

"Nice to meet you girls." Mimi told them, holding the poster steady.

"What program are you enrolled in?" Joanne asked once the poster was hung up. The three of them were sitting on Mimi's bed, talking to one another.

"Dance. What about you girls?"

"Theatre." Maureen piped up.

"Dance." Joanne answered.

"Does that mean that we have the same classes?" Mimi inquired. Joanne nodded.

"What year are you, Mimi?" Joanne asked.

"Freshman. You?"

"Both Maureen and I are freshmen as well, along with Maureen's boyfriend, Mark. Our friends, Angel, Collins, Roger and Benny are sophomores." Joanne answered.

"Collins? That's a unique name for a guy." Mimi observed.

"That's his surname. He hates being called Thomas or anything related to it." Maureen put in.

"What programs are they enrolled in?" Mimi wanted to know.

"Mark is in Directing; Collins is in Screenwriting; Angel is in Art; Benny is in Acting and Roger is in Songwriting." Joanne answered.

"When do I meet these friends of yours?" Mimi inquired.

"We're all going out for pizza tonight. Wanna come?" Maureen asked.

"Sure." Mimi told her. Maureen squealed and helped Mimi pick out an outfit while Joanne called their favorite pizza place and then called their friends.

An hour later, the three girls were in front of Mamma Mia Pizzeria - the local hangout for the performing arts students.

"Hey girls!" a cute blond-haired boy greeted them as the three girls entered the pizzeria and followed him to a booth in the back. Four students were sitting at the table, two black guys, a white guy and a Hispanic girl. They were deep in conversation when Maureen, Joanne, Mimi and the cute blond-haired boy (Joanne and Maureen promised to make introductions later) sat down at the booth.

"Hey guys." The blond-haired boy greeted his friends, sitting down next to the white boy and the lighter-skinned black boy.

"Hey Rog - have a good summer?" the lighter-skinned black boy asked the blond-haired boy. He nodded and signaled the waiter over to the table. The group ordered Cokes and a large cheese pizza. The waiter nodded, wrote the order down and walked away.

"Guys - I want to introduce Mimi Marquez. She's in the Dance Program at Green Tree." Maureen spoke up. She then signaled for the others to introduce themselves and to tell what program they were in - starting with the people sitting across from her.

"Roger Davis - Songwriting."

"Tom Collins, also known as Collins - Screenwriting."

"Mark Cohen - Directing."

"Benjamin Coffin the third - Acting."

"Angel Schunard - Art."

"It's nice to meet all of you." Mimi told them after introductions were made.

"You, too, sugar." Angel spoke up, smiling.

Two hours later, the eight of them headed back to the dorms - classes were to start the next morning at 6:00 AM sharp with breakfast at 5:00 AM.

"Is there a dress-code?" Mimi inquired, slipping into her pajamas.

"Not really, just as long as you don't wear anything that shows off your midriff and you'll be fine." Joanne spoke up, turning off the lamp on her bedside table.

"I'm pretty nervous about tomorrow." Mimi admitted as she and Maureen headed to the bathroom down the hall to brush their teeth and hair.

Ten minutes later, both girls were done and headed back to the room for a good night's sleep. Mimi decided that she couldn't sleep, so she went to the main hall and sat down at the piano. Back home, whenever she couldn't sleep, she sat at the piano and played until she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

"_Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I just stared out my window  
Dreaming of a could-be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray_

_Trying not to reach out  
But when I'd try to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me  
Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I pray  
I could breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky  
I'll make a wish  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I'll take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway._" Mimi crooned, hitting each note as she sang.

"That's beautiful - why aren't you in the Songwriting Program?" a familiar voice asked. Mimi turned around and saw Roger walking over to her.

"What are you doing up?" she asked, smiling when he sat down next to her.

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same."

"Mind if I listen to the rest of the song?"

"Sure. I would love an audience."

Roger smiled and watched Mimi play the piano, watching her long fingers curl over the keys.

"_Wanna feel the warm breeze  
Sleep under a palm tree  
Feel the rush of the ocean  
Get onboard a fast train  
Travel on a jet plane, far away  
And breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky  
I'll make a wish  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I'll take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway._

_Buildings with a hundred floors  
Swinging around revolving doors  
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but  
Gotta keep moving on, moving on  
Fly away, breakaway_

I'll spread my wings  
And I'll learn how to fly  
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye  
I gotta take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget the place I come from  
I gotta take a risk  
Take a chance  
Make a change  
And breakaway,  
Breakaway,  
Breakaway._" Mimi finished, closing the lid of the piano.

"That was beautiful." Roger praised, applauding her.

"Thanks. I not only dance, but I write music in my spare time." Mimi told him, drawing her robe closer to her.

"I hope that you not only get your songs out there, but yourself out there, too." Roger told her, picking up Mimi's notebook and skimmed through it. Mimi suddenly snatched it back and closed it.

"That's really sweet of you." Mimi told him, not bothering to stifle a yawn.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow." Roger said, going in the direction from in which he came. Mimi sighed and went back to her dorm, feeling less nervous about the following day.

At four o'clock AM, the room was filled with buzzing alarms. Mimi groaned and put the pillow over her head - she was used to waking up at 6:00 AM, but not at 4:00.

"Meems, come on. Breakfast is in an hour then classes." Maureen chirped, not bothering to go to the bathroom to change. She put on a long, plain-white tank top with a shorter black one over it with an outline of a music note in sequins. She then slipped into a pair of dark blue jeans and on her feet, she wore flip-flops.

"You're gonna freeze." Joanne announced, gathering up some clothes so that she could go change in the bathroom. Mimi gathered some clothes and followed Joanne to the bathroom.

"You look nice." Maureen complimented her friends. Mimi was dressed in a pink leotard with a black sweater over it. On her feet, she wore pink ballet slippers. Joanne, however, was dressed in red from head to toe.

As the three of them found a table, Roger, Mark, Collins and Benny walked over and sat down at a table near the front of the cafeteria. Angel, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Angel?" Mimi inquired.

"She's still sleeping - she should be here soon." Collins replied.

Twenty minutes later, Angel skipped into the cafeteria, wearing bright orange from head to toe.

"That's way too much orange for me." Collins joked as she sat down next to him.

"Very funny, Col." Angel retorted, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

The eight of them quickly finished their breakfasts and headed to Campus - a half mile hike to where the buildings for the Performing Arts were. An old brown brick building stood on the left, surrounded by pine trees.

"That's the Ford Stage where the students perform their final projects at the end of the term." Collins explained, taking Angel's hand in his.

"What other classes are there besides Art, Acting, Dance, Directing and so on?" Mimi inquired, smiling when Roger walked up next to her.

"You have your basic school classes - Math, English, History, a language of your choosing, some sort of science and of course, my personal favorite, lunch." Roger answered.

A few minutes later, the eight of them gathered in the Main Hallway and compared schedules. They all had the same basic classes, besides the one they were enrolled in, and lunch.

After the friends said goodbye and wished each other luck in their classes, Mimi and Joanne headed to Dance Room 20 B.

"Nervous?" Joanne asked.

"A little." Mimi admitted.

"Don't be - you'll blow them away." Joanne told her, opening the door to the class room. Mimi took a minute to observe the room - it was a basic rectangle-shaped room with hardwood floors, high ceilings and mirrors aligning the back wall.

Six other students - three boys and three girls - were already warming up either in front of the mirrors or on the wall opposite the door. Two instructors - a man and a woman - were talking quietly in a far corner, but looked up when Mimi closed the door loudly behind her.

"And you two are?" the woman instructor asked, looking Joanne and Mimi up and down as Mimi stripped out of her sweater and found a place on the parallel bars to stretch on.

"I'm Joanne Jefferson and that's Mimi Marquez - we're freshmen." Joanne answered, placing her bag next to Mimi's things and going to warm-up with Mimi.

"Everyone, come into the middle, please." the male instructor told the class. The students finished stretching, came to the center of the room and sat down in a circle. Mimi ended up seated next to Joanne on one side and the male instructor on the other.

"Welcome to your first day of Introductory Ballet. My name is Josef and this is my wife, Anne. We've both been instructors here for twenty-six years and enjoyed every minute of it. I will have Anne go over the class criteria after we have made introductions. Each of you will go around the circle, tell us your name, what made you interested in ballet and two things that we should know about you." the male instructor told the class, indicating to Mimi, who was seated next to him, to start.

"Hi - my name is Marissa Rosario Maria Marquez, but call me Mimi. I'm sixteen years old and have been practicing ballet since I was in kindergarten and have always been fascinated by it. Two things you should know about me are 1) I write my own songs and 2) back at home, I have two female Siamese cats - Yin and Yang." Mimi told the group, indicating for Joanne to tell about herself.

Once introductions had been made, Anne went on to explain the rules of the class and the criteria of each class period. There would be no tests, which made Mimi very happy and the only homework the class had was to perform for the class their own style of ballet.

After Anne was done talking, Josef assigned partners and worked on the 'trust exercise', which was not only fun, but useful for the future. Mimi was paired with Fitz - a red-headed boy who loved horror movies and horseback riding. He told Mimi the only reason he was interested in ballet was because his sister had gotten sick one day, so he decided to go in her place.

"Okay, class - that's enough for today." Josef called out as the bell rang. As Mimi went to get her things, Fitz tapped her on the shoulder.

"I really liked working with you today, Mimi." he told her.

"Thanks. I liked working with you, too." Mimi told him, smiling as she put her sweater back on and gathered her book bag.

"Maybe sometime if you're not busy, we could hang out - as friends, just in case you're seeing someone." Fitz rambled, which made Mimi laugh.

"I would love to hang out with you sometime. Would you like to have lunch with my friends and I today?" Mimi asked.

"Today's not good - I promised a friend of mine I would have lunch with him, but maybe tomorrow." Fitz answered, gathering up his own book bag and headed out the door before Mimi could say anything else. Sighing, she started walking towards the Main Hallway, when Joanne called out her name.

"Wait for me!" she exclaimed, catching up to Mimi a few minutes later.

"Sorry, Joanne." Mimi apologized.

"Don't be. What did you think of the class?"

"I really liked it and felt like I could learn a lot."

"I feel the same way."

"Fitz is cute."

"Yeah, he is." Joanne agreed, making Mimi smile.

What seemed like an eternity, classes were over for the day.

"I can't believe all the homework we have." Maureen groaned, throwing her book bag on the couch as she, Joanne and Mimi entered the dorm room.

"The quicker we do it, the quicker we can meet everyone - including Mark's new friend - at Mamma Mia Pizzeria, for dinner." Joanne told her, struggling with her zipper on her book bag.

Two hours later, the three of them had their homework done when there was a knock on the door. Mimi, who was closest to it, went to answer the door and opened it.

"Hello." Roger greeted her, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hi." Mimi greeted him back, motioning for him to come inside. Roger entered and closed the door behind him.

"You ready to go?" he asked, looking Mimi up and down.

"Yeah. Maureen and Joanne went to take showers, but they should be back soon." Mimi answered, sitting down on the couch, Roger taking a seat next to her.

Half an hour later, the four of them headed over to Mamma Mia Pizzeria where Collins, Angel, Benny, Mark and Mark's friend, Jonathon, were waiting for them. Mark made introductions as Mimi, Maureen and Joanne found empty seats and sat down.

"Jonathon is in my Directing class." Mark told the others.

"Mark's told me about you guys." Jonathon told the three girls.

"All good, I hope." Mimi spoke up, ordering a Coke and an ice water.

"You know, Mark, we're just freshmen - you don't know the first thing about us." Maureen pointed out, a little bit of an edge in her voice.

"Jeez, Maureen. What's with the 'tude?" Roger asked.

"None of your business." Maureen answered, gathering up her things and stormed out of the pizza place. Joanne and Mimi looked at each other - wondering whether to follow her or not.

"I'll go." Joanne finally spoke up, gathering her things and exited the pizza place.

After Joanne and Maureen left, the remaining friends decided to go back to the dorms when Jonathon called them back. Once everyone was back, he handed them different colored flyers.

"I saw the Headmaster posting these around campus and I thought that I could make a student film about your group." Jonathon told them.

"Sure." Everyone agreed. Jonathon smiled.

"Great - I was thinking of entitling my student film RENT. What do you think?" he asked, looking around the table.

"_RENT_? Why _RENT_?" Joanne inquired, coming inside with Maureen.

"Because life is like the rent we have to pay." Jonathon answered, handing both girls a flyer as they sat back down.

"Could we help with the film?" Mark spoke up.

"Yeah. I would love it if you guys could not only star in it, but contribute your skills to the film as well." Jonathon told him. He then dug around in his bag until he found his notebook and opened it to a page with writing on it. Mimi, who was seated next to him, looked over his shoulder to see what was on the page - on the top was the word RENT written in the middle. Below it, there were character descriptions and next to that, were the eight of their names.

"Mimi - you'll be playing Sara - an S&M dancer who is HIV positive and is a nineteen-year-old junkie with a feisty personality who falls in love with Chris, the mysterious musician upstairs.

Roger - you'll be playing Chris - a former junkie who is also HIV positive. Your former girlfriend - let's call her Amy for right now - slit her wrists when she found out that she had HIV. From that moment, you decided to get clean from the help of your best friend, Jacob. You have two other roommates - Grady and Michael, but they're hardly around.

Mark - you'll be playing Jacob - Chris' best friend and roommate. You're a film maker who is never seen without his camera. You're shy, incompetent, independent and not very confident when it comes to girls. Also, your character, Jacob, narrates the story. You're girlfriend - Ellen, left you for another woman. To make things worse, your former roommate Michael moves out and marries a white girl for the money.

Benny - you'll be playing Michael - Chris, Grady and Jacob's former roommate who betrayed their friendship when you moved out and married a white girl for the money. Your character then blackmails them when they refuse to cancel Jacob's former girlfriend's protest.

Maureen - you'll be playing Ellen - Jacob's former girlfriend who left him for a lawyer named Karen. Ellen is an actress and a drama queen, so I know you'll have fun playing her.

Joanne - you'll be playing Karen - a lesbian lawyer who ends up falling for Ellen - Jacob's ex-girlfriend. Karen is one of the strong ones who keeps everyone together, even when one of the characters moves on and one almost dies. She's one tough bitch who will not be messed with.

Angel - you'll be playing Corey - a sweet, kind, thoughtful, HIV positive street performer who falls for Grady after he gets mugged in an alleyway. You become like his guardian angel and the two of you are inseparable.

Collins - you'll be playing Grady - a philosophy professor at NYU, who is also Chris, Jacob and Michael's roommate. Grady is openly gay and has HIV, but that doesn't bother him when he meets a street performer and drag queen named Corey. When Corey joins the group, he's the one who keeps everyone together. Grady and Corey are totally inseparable and end up falling for each other." Jonathon read off the character descriptions. When he finished, the others couldn't believe how much their character descriptions were like their own personal descriptions, without the drugs, HIV positive thing or the job descriptions.

"When is the student film-thingy?" Mark inquired, gathering up his book bag. The girls, plus Benny, had left an hour ago, so it was just Mark, Jonathon, Collins and Roger.

"It's not until the fall, so we have time to work on both our homework and the film." Jonathon reassured Mark, gathering up his own book bag.

"If you need help with songs, I could think of some and also see if Mimi has any ideas." Roger offered.

"That would be great." Jonathon told him.

"How did you know what to write for each character description?" Collins piped up.

"I'm a people watcher, so I was observing each one of you today in History and Algebra." Jonathon told him, kissing Collins' cheek.

"Uh, guys - could you give Jonathon and I a moment, alone, please?" Collins asked his two friends. Mark and Roger nodded, exited the pizza place and walked to the dorms.

"Is something wrong?" Jonathon asked, adjusting the hem of his black sweater.

"No, but the character description of Grady is the exact same description of me - except without me being HIV positive or being a professor at NYU. I am, however, gay and am not ready for a relationship - my boyfriend, Jeff, broke up with me when we were freshmen. I found out that he was cheating on me and I really don't want my heart broken again." Collins answered.

"Collins - I'm sorry. I didn't know." Jonathon apologized.

"It's fine. When I'm ready for a relationship, I'll let you know."

A week later, Jonathon and Mimi were working on some songs that her character, Sara, would be singing.

"Since she's an S&M dancer, I was thinking of something like she would want someone to take her out and show her a good time." Mimi told him. Jonathon nodded and wrote her ideas for some of the songs they had talked about down.

Three hours later, the two of them decided to call it quits and headed to their dorms.

"You were gone a long time. You okay?" Joanne asked once Mimi entered the dorm.

"Yeah - Jonathon and I were just working on some things for the student film." Mimi told her, throwing her book bag on the couch and fell gracefully on her bed.

"I can't believe the amount of homework I have tonight." Maureen complained, sitting down next to Mimi.

"I know, but the sooner you get started on it, the less you'll have to do over the weekend." Mimi advised. Maureen groaned, got off Mimi's bed and went to get started on her homework. Since Mimi and Joanne had already finished their homework, they decided to start working on their lines for Jonathon's student film. Mimi had just put her pen to the paper when the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Mimi announced, sprinting to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Mimi, baby." Mrs. Marquez greeted her.

"Hi mom." Mimi greeted her mom back.

"How's Green Tree?" Mrs. Marquez asked.

"Good - I met a lot of friends and classes are going well." Mimi told her mom.

"I'm so glad, mija."

"A friend of a friend of mine is directing a student film and asked all of us - my new friends and I - to be in it."

"That's wonderful."

"The film is called _RENT_ and it's about eight friends living in New York at the end of the 1980s, beginning of the 1990s. My character is named Sara-" Mimi stopped when she felt like her mother wasn't listening, which irritated Mimi.

"Did you say something, Mimi?" Mrs. Marquez inquired.

"Si, but it's not important." Mimi told her mother.

"Okay. Yin and Yang miss you."

"I miss them, too. How are they doing?"

"Yin's sick - she hasn't touched her food or has drunk any water in two days. She's also been using my carpet and potted plants as her litter box."

"Poor baby. Have you taken her to the vet?"

"Your father took her in yesterday - Dr. Kelso doesn't know what's causing Yin to be so sick."

"I'm really worried about her. What about Yang? Is she okay?"

"Yang's sitting on my lap, purring."

"Let me say 'hi' to her."

As Mrs. Marquez put the phone in front of Yang, Mimi heard her purring loudly and meowing.

"Hi baby girl. I bet you're upset that your sister is sick - don't worry, kitten, she'll get better. I'll be home for Spring Break and I'll spend all my time with you girls." Mimi told her cat, knowing that she couldn't understand what she was saying.

Mimi spent another twenty minutes talking to her mother about visits to the vet for Yin and once the vet figured out what was wrong with her what the options would be. She finally hung up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Mimi? Who was on the phone?" Joanne asked, looking up from her textbook.

"My mom - one of my cats is sick and the vet doesn't know what's wrong with her." Mimi told her, blinking the tears out of her eyes as Mark, Roger, Collins, Angel, Benny and Jonathon entered the room.

"Mimi? What's wrong, chica?" Angel asked, coming to Mimi's side.

"One of my cats is sick and the vet doesn't know what's wrong with her." Mimi told her friends. Angel wrapped her arms around Mimi and pulled her into a hug.

"How many cats do you have?" Roger spoke up.

"Two - they're sisters named Yin and Yang." Mimi told him, getting out of Angel's death-grip.

"How old are they?" Roger questioned.

"Four - their birthday was last week."

"I'm sorry that your cat is sick. I hope she get better soon." Jonathon sympathized.

"Thanks." Mimi thanked him.

Once they were done talking about cats, the nine of them tried to figure out what to do that evening. Mimi couldn't help but think how lucky she was that she had friends like the little clique she was forming with them.


End file.
